Does anyone knows how to glaze flowers to make them look real? In Alan Dunn book she is using alcohol and varnish. Does anybody knows what VARNISH is?
Thank you.

This is confectioner's varnish (scroll to middle of page): http://www.almondart.com/acatalog/Miscellaneous.html

miriel , thanks. Is it posible to make it at home?

I have no idea if it can be made at home. I just purchase it premade

I took a class at the area Michaels and the teacher there said Choc lacquer.
The only place I know to get it is at a specialty place.

I would like to know if it can be made at home as well.

Steaming the flowers can improve their appearance too - just hold them over a steaming kettle for about 3 seconds. Make sure you don't touch the petals while they are wet and watch you don't burn your fingers. Steaming gives the flowers a very dewy appearance at first, but this fades to give a very natural look to the flower. The effect is not the same as the varnish, which depending on the flower, can be a little too glossy.
Regards,
Cris.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1813,157188-246205,00.html

you might wanna check this link

Lana, Alan Dunn is a He, not a She. I know you can buy confectioners glaze from Nicholas Lodge but I don't know of any homemade recipes that will dry without being sticky or tacky.

Thanks every one, thanks mxdiva i would have to try this recipe . I hope it will work.

A confectionary glaze that is made using conf sugar and water and then they mix 50% pure grain alcohol to it. The lacquer is expensive. Its $35 a can. And it wont give you the appearance your looking for. The conf. glaze works well on leaves and some flowers. I recommend the steam method myself, on most flowers. They get a realistic looks to them.
You can buy the premade glaze also. I got mine from Beth at Sugarpaste.com

I second the steam method. That's what I usually do. It is faster and easier too.

Do you use petal dust first and after steaming, how lond does it takes to dry? Can i use gum paste for flowers?
Thank you, Lana.

I use petal dust to color and add accents to gumpaste flowers. After steaming, it will look a little wet so just leave it out to dry and don't touch for a few minutes.

Thank you all , sorry forgive me but what is accents are?